Frontside Airs in the Pipe with Hampus Mosseson

Hampus Mosesson shows you how to throw a hefty frontside air in the halfpipe.

Learning frontside airs is the first step to learning how to ride the pipe. As far as disciplines in snowboarding go, the pipe could very well be the one that requires the most dedication. You have to be comfortable carrying a butt-ton of speed into walls that tower overhead. You need to feel confident on edge. And you need to know how to stay composed in the air. And no matter how accomplished you feel, it's still damn hard to boost like the pros. But don't let this deter you. Start small, work your way up, be happy to hike and keep at it. And eventually you too will be blasting frontside airs like Hampus.—L.G.

1. Any pipe trick starts with your drop-in. If your drop isn't on point, whatever trick you're trying will inevitably suffer. So commit to your trick before you drop, carry a good amount of speed across the flatbottom, and charge into the frontside wall.

2. The more speed you can carry into the wall the better because you'll end up losing some as you cruise up the pipe wall. You want to be on your toe edge, but not carving too hard—just try to follow the transition of the pipe.

3. As you near the top of the wall, concentrate on looking above the lip. You only go as high as you're looking, so keep your eyes on the sky. You shouldn't have to pop much, let the pipe do the work, just stay relaxed and ready for some airtime.

4. Now that you're in the air, turn your upper body about 90 degrees. With frontside airs it's easy to over rotate, so don't overdo it. Grabbing nose will help keep your rotation to a minimum, but Indy, stalefish, or tailgrabs are all good options as well. Do what feels best.

5. Keep your knees sucked up and your body quiet, and look at where you're going to land. Try to land flat-based as high on the transition as possible and carry all your speed into the backside wall.

"Don't try and go super high on your first try, just keep it mellow. It's really fun to just grab your nose and put your tail on the lip. So try that a couple of times and then just start carrying more and more speed into it. "